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Topic: Pets (09/13/04)
TITLE: You Saw WHAT? By Zillah Williams 09/15/04 |
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"A pink alpaca?" I took my eyes off the road for a fleeting second to study my daughter’s face. Was she serious? She was!
"Alpacas don’t come in pink!" I protested.
My daughter explained. Apparently, a woman who breeds alpacas, those cute animals which look like small llamas, had made a pet of one and tinted it pink. My daughter had seen it as she passed a sidewalk café where its owner was enjoying coffee. The pink alpaca was by her side.
Alpaca stories must come in threes for, on talk-back radio that same day I heard of a driver’s surprise at seeing what he at first thought was a large dog in the passenger seat of the car he was following. But, was it a dog? It turned its head, and for a wild moment the surprised driver thought that the animal was a horse! In a car? Then, he realised that it was an alpaca, sitting in the back of the car, with its head over into the passenger seat.
Later, that same day, there was a reported sighting outside a hospital. A man was seen opening the car door for an alpaca, which climbed in as though it were the most natural thing in the world to do!
Pets are so much part of our lives, and such a blessing, aren’t they? What about those friendly dogs which are taken to visit nursing homes to bring cheer and comfort to the patients? And the trusting way a pet cat will look at you, knowing that you understand perfectly what its needs are, and that you will supply them.
At the other end of the scale, pets can be a status symbol. I remember reading about Parisian ladies who chose their poodles to match their bag and gloves!
Pets aren’t mentioned in the Bible. At least, I don’t think they are. But they must have been there. Thinking about it, I am reminded of the poem about Jesus’ little black dog. Do you know it? It begins, "I wonder if Christ had a little black dog". I can never read the last lines of this poem without crying inside. Here they are:
"And, oh! I am sure that that little black dog,
With a heart so tender and warm,
Would never have left Him to suffer alone,
But creeping right under His arm,
Would have licked the dear fingers in agony clasped,
And counting all favours but loss,
When they took Him away, would have trotted behind
And followed Him quite to the cross."
© Zillah Williams
September 2004